Latvia is a land, where beer has been highly esteemed
for centuries, and where a continual search goes on for new flavours, unique to
this region, which explains why so many craft breweries are sprouting up in
Latvia.

Look forward to Latvia’s centenary, Valmiermuiža
Brewery and its friends have decided to renew Riga’s historical renown
as a Northern European brewing citadel. All craft beer lovers are welcome to
visit Riga Beer District – a place, where three large and famous breweries were
in operation a century ago, and where, today, nine pubs offer craft beers
brewed in Latvia and elsewhere, each of which has its own character, and some
of which come complete with their own brewery. Riga Beer District is a place,
which every self-respecting beer lover should visit at least once.

In a unique location, in the very heart of the city, between
three historical breweries: the former premises of the Bier und
Porterbrauerei und Malzfabrik C. Stritzky production plant on A.Briāna
Street, the giant buildings of the C. L. Kymmel brewery on the
corner of Bruņinieku Street and Valdemāra Street, andthe buildings
of the Bierbrauerei Gust. Kuntzendorff brewery, nine
pubs have sprung up, which all sell craft beer brewed in Latvia and the Baltic
region. The first to open its doors in this
neighbourhood, was Valmiermuiža Brewery’s Beer Embassy in Riga.
It was subsequently joined by other brewers and traders: Labietis Brewery,
the small-scale Ziemeļu Enkurs Brewery, the bars Taka and Walters
& Grapa, which sell products made small by breweries, a hang-out
for progressive youth Vest, the alternative party venue Autentika,
as well as Zobens un Lemess, a bar for heavy metal fans. A stone’s throw
away, one will find the Alķīmiķis pub and brewery. Nine pubs with
varying characters, contrasting locals, who all share a love of quality beer
brewed by true masters, as well as a locale unique not only in Riga and Latvia,
but in the whole of Northern Europe – the Beer District.

A VENERABLE HISTORY

In the 19th century, Riga was a capital of brewing, a
place where sweet miestiņš beer flowed in streams and breweries worked
non-stop to provide Rigans and neighbouring communities with the most delicious
beer to drink from day to day, and with which to grace festive tables. The
three biggest breweries were located close to one another – it was reputed far
and wide that the most appetising water could be found in this part of the city.

The first was opened in 1796 by Baltic-German trader
Gustav Kunzendorff, who opened a brewery named Bierbrauerei
Gust.Kunzendorff on erstwhile Matveja Street. At the start of the 20th
century its operations were so extensive that the company’s warehouses could
not only be found in Riga and Liepaja, but as far afield as Kiev, Peterhof, Revel
(Tallinn), Yuryev (Tartu) and Arensburg (Kuressaar). Unlike the majority of
breweries, wars could not disrupt the operations of the Kunzendorff Brewery, which
continued until the Soviet occupation in 1940.

In 1850, a brewery that had been owned for decades by
the family of Peter Rudolf Kimmel, a trader in Russia’s third guild, relocated
to a new beer and malt production facility on Bruņinieku Street, where it bore
the name of Bierbrauierei und malz fabrik C.L.Kymmel, and operated
right up to the First World War.

Last, but not least, in 1854 a brewery
was opened on A.Briāna Street, which was subsequently bought in 1868 by
Baltic-German trader and entrepreneur Karl Kristoph von Stritzky, in order to
produce not only beer, but also porter and other malt beverages under the name of
Bier und Porterbrauerei und Malzfabrik C.Stritzky. As late as 1913, the
Stritzky Brewery was the biggest and most profitable of all Riga’s breweries, with
the exception of the Iļģuciems Brewery operating in Pārdaugava. Unfortunately,
the golden days of Stritzky Brewery ended with the advent of the First World
War.